Two-part closure with frangible elements



March 17, 1964 w. H. YOUNG, JR 3,125,259

TWO-PART CLOSURE WITH FRANGIBLE ELEMENTS CONNECTING THE TWO PARTS Filed April 14, 1961 INVENT OR WILLIAM H. YOUNG, Jr.

ATTORNEY United States Patent TWO-PART LOSURE WITH FRANGIBLE ELE- MENTS CGNNECTING THE TWO PARTS William H. Young, Jr., Baltimore, Md., assign'or to Pharma Plastics Incorporated, a corporation of Maryland Filed Apr. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 102,968 7 Claims. (Cl. 222541) This invention relates to a closure eminently suited for use with aerosol cans having valve cups with internally directed flanges.

When an aerosol can is filled for distribution through retailers, there is always a possibility that some of the contents has been removed before the package is received by the ultimate consumer. There have been a number of closures proposed for such container, but none of them thus farhas provided the combined features of ready accessibility and assurance against tampering.

A closure has been provided by the present invention that is incapable of reuse after it has been mutilated to the extent required for access to the contents of the container.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a unitary resilient moldable plastic closure comprising a tubular cover member having an axial wall, a relatively closed end and an open end, a tubular retaining member adjacent the open end, a plurality of frangible arcuately spaced bridging elements integral with the members and extending internally of the retaining member, and a peripheral projection carried externally of the retaining member for anchoring the closure in the valve cup of an aerosol container. The retaining member preferably provides an annular surface adjacent the open end of the cover member and extending radially outwardly therefrom. The bridging elements preferably maintain the members in axially spaced relationship. The cover member axial Wall preferably diverges from its closed end to its open end and the retaining member preferably has a substantially cylindrical internal wall obstructed by the bridging elements. The bridging elements extending internally of the retaining member reduce its effective cross section sufiiciently to prevent entry of a closed end of a similar cover member so that inadvertent nesting of the closures will not occur thereby assuring that it will be unnecessary to interrupt the operation of a closure applying machine for this reason.

In one form of the invention the(peripheral projection carried by the retaining member is preferably continuous whereas another form contemplates a plurality of arcuately spaced peripheral projections instead. Where there are such spaced projections, they are preferably disposed intermediate a pair of bridging elements so that there will be a minimum danger of fracturing the bridging elements during the application of the closure to the container for which it is intended. There are preferably at least three bridging elements interconnecting the members and in a preferred embodiment illustrated, four such bridging members have been shown. In any case, the bridging elements are preferably equally spaced about the periphery of the closure.

A more complete understanding of the invention will follow from a description of the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation depicting an aerosol container to which a closure conforming to the present invention has been applied;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one form of closure contemplated;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevation, partially in section, depicting the closure of FIG. 2 installed in a valve cup of an aerosol container;

3,125,259 Patented Mar. 17, 1964 FIG. 4 is a detail, fragmentary and enlarged of a portion of the closure of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of another form of closure contemplated;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevation, partially in section, depicting the closure of FIG. 5 installed in the valve cup of an aerosol container; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation depicting a portion of the closure of FIGS. 5 and 6.

A conventional aerosol can 10 has been depicted in FIG. 1 as equipped with a closure 12 conforming to the present invention. Inasmuch as the plastic materials contemplated for certain forms of the invention are substantially clear or translucent, the valve 14 will appear to the observer. Each closure 12 includes a tubular or cup-like cover member 16 having an axial wall 18, a relatively closed end 20 and an open end 22. A tubular retaining member or anchor member 24 is disposed in adjacency to the open end of the cover member and secured thereto by a plurality of frangible arcuately spaced tabs or bridging elements 26 molded integrally with the members and provided with portions 28 extending radially inwardly from the internal wall of the retaining member 24 to the vicinity of its open end 30. These extending portions 28 of the bridging elements 26 reduce the effective cross section of the retaining member 24, which would otherwise be cylindrical in the form of the invention illustrated, to a size insuflicient to permit a closed end of one of the closures to be received thereby. In this manner, there is no possibility of inadvertent nesting of the closures in the hopper of a machine intended to apply them to the containers for which they are intended. Moreover, these portions 28 of the bridging elements that extend within the retaining member will prevent the cover member from being first detached by mutilation of the bridging elements and then reapplied to the retaining member.

The retaining member 24 depicted in FIG. 4 provides a continuous external projection or flange 32 for anchoring engagement with the internal directed flange conventionally formed as part of the valve cup 34 of an aerosol container. The retaining member is also provided with an annular surface 36 substantially perpendicular to its axis and adjacent the open end of the cover member 12, extending radially beyond the periphery of the cover member itself to provide a seat for a tool forming a part of the machine used to apply the closure to the container for which it is intended.

Inasmuch as the materials contemplated for such closures are primarily resilient moldable plastic compositions such as polyethylene and the somewhat less flexible polystyrene, it will be clear that as the closure is pressed downwardly into the valve cup of an aerosol container, the retaining member 24 will be deformed sufficiently to permit the flange 32 to pass beyond the inturned flange of the valve cup, whereupon the inherent resiliency of the retaining member will cause it to resume its initial expanded condition so that the flange 32 will become interlocked with the flange of the valve cup to an extent that will assure that the parts cannot be separated without damage that will be perceptible to the ultimate consumer. It is contemplated that in some instances the dimensions of the retaining member will be such that it will not quite resume its initial expanded condition after installation in the valve cup so that there will always be some compressive stress to retain the closure substantially immovable with respect to the container. When it is desired to gain access to the contents of the container, it is merely necessary to twist, squeeze, or otherwise deform the cover member to an extent suflicient to fracture the tabs or bridging members 26, whereupon the valve 14 will be completely exposed and the container ready for use.

As will be clear from FIGS. 4 and 7, the bridging elements 26 maintain the closure member 16 in axially spaced relationship with respect to the retaining member 24 so that it will always be quite evident when the closure has suffered mutilation.

The form of the invention depicted in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 differs from that of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 primarily in the provision of arcuately spaced peripheral projections 38 in lieu of the continuous flange 32. Such spaced projections have been found to be preferable Where the composition of the material constituting the closure provides a reduced degree of flexibility as would be the case where polystyrene is employed. By providing these arcuately spaced projections, less deformation of the retaining member is required to install the closure in the valve cup'of the container and accordingly, there is less danger of breakage during the installation operation. In order to take advantage of the maximum degree of flexibility With out damage to the closure, as depicted best in FIG. 6, these arcuately spaced peripheral projections 38 are spaced intermediate the bridging elements 26.

The use of four bridging elements, as depicted in the forms of the invention illustrated, has been found to be quite satisfactory. However, for some purposes, three such elements would sufiice, and any number greater than three could be used.

The extension of the retaining member 24 below the flange 32 of FIG. 4 and below the projections 38 of FIG. 7 is sufiicient to assure that after the closures are dropped into place in the valve cups, they will remain upright until they reach the station at which they are pressed into their final positions. The tapered configuration of the flange 32 and projections 38 serves to guide the closures during their final positioning.

Whereas only two modifications of the invention have been described with respect 'to the accompanying drawing, the many variations that will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art are contemplated as coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A unitary resilient moldable plastic closure comprising a tubular cover member having an axial wall, a relatively closed end and an open end, a tubular retaining member adjacent said open end and of larger internal crosssection than said open end, a plurality of frangible arcuately spaced bridging elements integral with said members and maintaining said members in spaced relationship and extending internally of said retaining member, and a peripheral projection carried externally of said retaining member, said retaining member having an internal wall obstructed by said bridging elements to exclude a cover member end of a similar closure.

2. A closure according to claim 1 wherein said peripheral projection is continuous.

3. A closure according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of arcuately spaced peripheral projections are carried externally of said retaining member.

4.- A closure according to claim 1 wherein at least three bridging elements interconnect said members.

5. A unitary resilient moldable plastic closure comprising a tubular cover member having an axial wall, a relatively closed end and an open end, a tubular retaining member adjacent said open end, a plurality of frangible arcuately spaced bridging elemnts integral with said members and maintaining said members in spaced relationship and extending internally of said retaining member, and a peripheral projection carried externally of said retaining member, said retaining member providing an annular surface adjacent the open end of said cover member and extending radially outwardly therefrom.

6. A unitary resilient moldable plastic closure comprising a tubular cover member having an axial wall, a relatively closed end and an open end, a tubular retaining member adjacent said open end, a plurality of frangible arcuately spaced bridging elements integral with said members and maintaining said members in spaced relationship and extending internally of said retaining member, and a peripheral projection carried externally of said retaining member, said cover member axial wall diverging from said closed end to said open end and said retaining member having a substantially cylindrical internal wall obstructed by said bridging elements.

7. A unitary resilient moldable plastic closure comprising a tubular cover member having an axial wall, a relatively closed end and an open end, a tubular retaining member adjacent said open end, a plurality of frangible arcuately spaced bridging elements integral with said members and maintaining said members in spaced relationship and extending internally of said retaining member, and a plurality of arcuately spaced peripheral projections carried externally of said retaining member, each of said projections being disposed intermediate a pair of said bridging elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,707,968 Eflford May 10, 1954 2,713,872 Juengling July 26, 1955 2,742,202 Dresden et al. Apr. 17, 1956 2,765,960 Soffer et a1. Oct. 9, 1956 2,907,489 Taylor Oct. 6, 1959 w 2,961,119 Leach Nov. 22, 1960 2,961,128 Cochran Nov. 22, 1960 3,028,992 Bucher et al Apr. 10, 1962 

5. A UNITARY RESILIENT MOLDABLE PLASTIC CLOSURE COMPRISING A TUBULAR COVER MEMBER HAVING AN AXIAL WALL, A RELATIVELY CLOSED END AND AN OPEN END, A TUBULAR RETAINING MEMBER ADJACENT SAID OPEN END, A PLURALITY OF FRANGIBLE ARCUATELY SPACED BRIDGING ELEMENTS INTEGRAL WITH SAID MEMBERS AND MAINTAINING SAID MEMBERS IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP AND EXTENDING INTERNALLY OF SAID RETAINING MEMBER, AND A PERIPHERAL PROJECTION CARRIED EXTERNALLY OF SAID RETAINING MEMBER, SAID RETAINING MEMBER PROVIDING AN ANNULAR SURFACE ADJACENT THE OPEN END OF SAID COVER MEMBER AND EXTENDING RADIALLY OUTWARDLY THEREFROM. 